According to school superintendent Richard Labbe, the allegations involved “inappropriate conduct of a significant and serious nature,” and that “there was enough evidence to substantiate there were incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted.”

The sickening nature of the hazing is truly depraved. Freshmen football players would literally race to the locker room to get changed in a hurry in order to escape what would happen when senior players arrived. What happened when a freshman wasn’t fast enough is horrifying to think about, but one parent of a player described the ritual to the Jew Jersey Star-Ledger.

It would start with a howling noise from a senior football player at Sayreville War Memorial High School, and then the locker room lights were abruptly shut off.

In the darkness, a freshman football player would be pinned to the locker room floor, his arms and feet held down by multiple upperclassmen. Then, the victim would be lifted to his feet while a finger was forced into his rectum. Sometimes, the same finger was then shoved into the freshman player’s mouth.

The bodies of freshmen football players were violated by upperclassmen and the coaches somehow knew nothing about it. Is anyone buying that for a second?

Because the abuse is widespread on the football team and violates New Jersey anti-bullying laws, the decision was made to cancel the remaining games in the season. But parents are more outraged about the football season being cancelled than they are about their kids being violated, humiliated, and bullied.

One parent, Curtis Beckham, called the allegations “bogus” and lamented that innocent football players are being made to suffer. Another parent, Theresa Tamburri, said, “I’m outraged that their season is taken away from them and they did nothing wrong. Let them play. Give them their season back. Give them what they worked hard for.”

Yet another parent, Madeline Thillet also protested the season being cancelled during a public meeting, “No one was hurt,” she said. “No one died. I don’t understand why they’re being punished.”

Parents also attended the meeting decked out in Sayreville football gear and even intimidated members of the media for trying to cover the scandal. Clearly, they want to pretend nothing happened.

This isn’t just some random cancellation of a football season because one player committed a crime. By allowing the season to continue, Sayreville would literally be allowing multiple perpetrators to be in the same locker room and on the same field as their victims. And no doubt, some players will be looking for revenge against those who have come forward about what happened or would intimidate those who haven’t. Allowing these scenarios to happen would impede an investigation of serious crimes.

The allegations are disturbing and the reaction of parents shows how messed up their priorities are. Yes, college scholarships are important but are they really more important than the safety of the kids? It’s a game, not a life or death situation. The hazing and bullying on the other hand is what parents should really be upset about. Hazing and bullying should be taken seriously and school officials did the right thing by cancelling the rest of the football season.